Exposure Found

In September 2004, well before the appointment at the university clinic and the biopsy, I told the head of the school that I was having problems inhaling, coughing and being out of breath. Since there had been a rat problem in our portable building for years, I was worried that maybe the dried rat urine or feces were causing my breathing problems.

I requested that the ceiling tiles be cleaned. A week later, we arrive to find rat feces covering our desks and the carpet. They had tipped the tiles to remove and clean them thus scattering the feces to the surfaces below. Rats had caused a disturbance by fighting with a family of cats underneath our office floor one morning, we would find dead rats in our office, we even had a rat trap in the office and one aggressive rat dropped down from an opening where the tile had not be correctly replaced and watched us from the top of the door. These were BIG rats.

In March 2005, I began my love/hate relationship with Prednisone. We began with forty mgs. for seven weeks. I gained 35 pounds, got the “moonface”, and became totally manic (produced over thirty programs at the school and could have tap danced all night). It did raise my DLCO to 12 where it still sits today.

In March of 2005, the resident asked me a number of questions: describe my house, any water problems, any mold, my gardening habits, my work environment, and my hobbies. He gathered this data and talked with an environmental hygienist who worked with the university. They discussed everything including what instruments I played. (Apparently, woodwinds are known to have a mold issue. I play string instruments.) As soon as he said that I worked in an 18-year old portable building, she said, “Bingo!” These buildings are renown for this disease.

Next: Deep throat